SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate pitchers Alex Garbrick and Austin Morgan combined for 14 strikeouts Saturday afternoon as the Spartans downed the Rockets 5-1 to clinch the series. Garbrick made his much anticipated debut for the Spartans with a start on the mound and threw five solid innings. He struck out eight Toledo batters while allowing two hits, one run, and two walks.

Morgan entered in the top of the sixth and tossed four scoreless innings to get credit for the save. He allowed three hits and no walks with six strikeouts in his day of work.

Jack Gallagher went 3-for-4 at the plate on the day with a two-run double and three RBI. Jason Matthews and Cameron Macintosh also had multi-hit performances with two hits each.

Scoring Summary
B1 | The Spartans took advantage of a shaky start from Toledo's pitcher Chris Meyers, who hit Julian Rip with a pitch to give Upstate its first baserunner of the game. Rip then stole second and made it to third on Meyers' first wild pitch of the inning. Noah Rabon knocked Rip in before taking two bases on two more wild pitches, and then was sent home on Gallagher's two-out single up the middle for an early 2-0 Spartan lead.

B3 | Devin Buckner drew a walk followed by a single up the middle from Rabon to set Gallagher up for a two-run double to the gap in right center that pushed Upstate's lead to 4-0.

B4 | Jack Hennessy reached on a walk and made it around to third on a single to right from Matthews, and Rip sent Hennessy home on a sacrifice bunt to give Upstate the 5-0 lead.

T5 | Toledo got a run back in the top of the fifth as Darren Davis grounded out to second base with the bases loaded to send a run home, but Garbrick fanned the next batter to get out of the jam.

UP Next for the Spartans
Upstate will look to go for the series sweep on Sunday, Feb. 21. First pitch for game three is set for 1 p.m.

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